Dr. Carolyn Williams, an accomplished local historian and recently retired UNF history professor, died Tuesday, Nov. 29 after a long illness.

During her tenure at UNF, she made significant contributions to education and became the area’s foremost expert on Jacksonville African-American history. Jamie Spruell, one of Williams’s graduate students and a colleague at UNF said, “She taught me more in one class than I ever thought possible. She absolutely changed the way I learn.”

Williams made significant contributions to the community while enhancing graduate and undergraduate education at the University. Williams carved out a community niche like few others by specializing in Jacksonville’s African-American and local history.

In addition to compiling a coffee table book on the history of Jacksonville with myriad archival photographs, Williams also worked closely with the Durkeeville Historical Society. Named after a Civil War soldier who went on to become an early sheriff of Jacksonville and was elected to the Florida Legislature, Durkeeville was founded in the 1930s when African-Americans were barred from living in many parts of the city. Williams led a dedicated group of volunteers who have collected the history of what it was like growing up in a segregated Jacksonville.

Lloyd Washington, who succeeded Williams as president of the Durkeeville Historical Society, says the UNF historian was a blessing to the society and the greater Jacksonville community.

“She helped plan and design our building and made sure all the information we presented was accurate,” he said. “She loves history and when you sat down and talked with her, it was like taking a trip back in time to the way Jacksonville was years ago.”

Williams, a Jacksonville native, made education her life. After graduating from Bishop Kenny High School, she moved to California and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Immaculate Heart College in 1970. She returned to Jacksonville to earn another bachelor’s degree — this time in history — in 1975 from UNF. She earned her master’s degree at the University of California at San Diego and a doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles. She returned to Jacksonville primarily to help care for her aging parents and obtained a part-time job teaching at UNF. When a tenure-track position became available in the History Department, she caught the eye of Dr. David Courtwright, then the department chair.

“My colleagues and I knew she would work well with our students. The fact that she was a Jacksonville native was a plus,” Courtwright said. “What none of us knew at the time was that Carolyn would develop such an interest in local history. That she acquired local and regional expertise was a real bonus for our department, our students and our community.”

At this time, funeral and memorial service plans are pending. More information will be shared with the campus community at a later date.

Dr. Yank Coble, director of UNF’s Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy and chairman of Jacksonville’s bioscience council, simply views himself as a man who tries to do his job every day the best he can.

But when he took the stage in November during the Jacksonville Business Journal’s Health Care Heroes award ceremony, his colleagues honored him for a lifetime of work devoted to improving the well being of others.

Coble received the Business Journal’s Lifetime Achievement award for his dedication to Jacksonville’s thriving health care and bioscience community. He’s helped to guide the region’s medical conversation for years and strengthened the University’s considerable health care profile in the community.

Keynote speaker Dr. David Guzick, senior vice president for health affairs at the University of Florida and president of the UF and Shands Health System, lauded all of the nominees, including Coble, for their contributions to Jacksonville and its medical community. He also touched on the economic impact of their work.

UNF researchers have estimated about one in five Jacksonville workers are employed in those fields, making them the fastest growing local industries. Ten of the top 30 employers in Jacksonville deal in health care. And about 20 percent of the region’s economy is derived from health care. That’s a massive chunk of the local economy. And it requires watchful stewardship by local leaders, such as Coble.

The Jacksonville Business Journal solicited nominations from the community and selected the final nominees after a review process by the publication’s editors. The Lifetime Achievement isn’t awarded yearly and only goes to select health care leaders who have contributed extensively to the industry.

It’s not a surprise Coble was chosen.

He’s been director of UNF’s Center for Global Health and Medical Diplomacy for four years, where he said he works as an intermediary — bridging the gap between local health care institutions and sharing the collective knowledge of the region’s most skilled medical leaders with the community.

Coble said the idea for the Center was first floated by Dr. Pam Chally from UNF’s Brooks College of Health and T. O’Neal Douglas, the retired president and CEO of American Heritage Life Insurance Company who has been a fixture on UNF’s Board of Trustees.

Since then, Coble has worked from his UNF office to spread the gospel of health care across the region, leading to the establishment of the Healthcare and Bioscience Council of Northeast Florida in 2007.

David Sillick, publisher at the Jacksonville Business Journal, said Coble has been an unwavering force for the promotion of healthcare, medical and bioscience issues in Northeast Florida for years, making him the perfect candidate for Lifetime Achievement award.

“He’s accomplished just about everything in the field that anyone could hope to,” he said.

Coble has a more humble view of his award.

“This is certainly a privilege and an honor,” he said. “But I don't think I’ve done anything so amazing to be considered a hero. I’ve been blessed to work in such a collaborative and caring community. I feel the greatest need of human kind is to be useful to others and to help out when needed, and I’ve tried to stick to that throughout my life.”

Another UNF nominee

Coble wasn’t the only member of the UNF community honored during the Health Care Heroes award ceremony. Dr. Shyam B. Paryani, director of the Florida Radiation Oncology Group, was acknowledged for his continued excellence in oncology in the region.

Paryani was an accomplished medical doctor when he enrolled in UNF’s Master of Health Administration program. The training Paryani received at UNF made it possible to greatly expand the number of cancer patients he helps each year.

His medical organization has offices in Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Palatka and Orange Park. He also serves on the UNF Foundation board and on the Brooks College of Health Dean’s Advisory council.

A mixture of shock, awe and most notably, happiness, Moira Rossi let out a gleeful yelp when she was handed the oversized check.

But when it came time for her to speak, she steeled herself and addressed her enthusiastic crowd.

“If you work hard and listen to your parents, you will achieve your dreams,” she said to the theater audience.

For her, the work started months earlier with a video monologue she posted on YouTube.

“My name is Moira Ann Rossi, and I have Down Syndrome,” she said during an almost three-minute video response to the National Disability Institute’s My American Dream — Voices of Americans with Disabilities nationwide video contest. “Down Syndrome means that I have trouble learning, but doesn't stop me from achieving my American dream.”

Rossi, 24, has been pursuing that dream with the help of the ARC Jacksonville Academy On-Campus Transition program at the University of North Florida. The program helps disabled community members learn to live on their own and teaches them valuable life skills.

Crystal Makowski, director of the UNF academy, said Rossi is a shining example of how UNF positively impacts the lives of disabled community members.

“Moira shows how you can do anything you set your mind to, especially when you have the dreams to back it up,” Makowski said.

A dedicated disability advocate, Rossi has studied theater since she was 8-years old. Her American dream is to be an accomplished actor and perform for audiences across the globe, a wish that she articulated in her YouTube video.

That video caught the attention of the contest organizers from the National Disability Institute, who surprised Rossi last month with a check for $1,000 and an iPad 2 during what she thought was a meeting of UNF’s On-Campus Transition program.

The surprises didn’t stop with a few gifts.

R.J. Mitte, an actor from AMC’s “Breaking Bad” spoke with Rossi via Skype during the ceremony. Mitte has cerebral palsy, and he will work as Rossi’s career mentor to help guide her in pursuit of her own American dream.

“I loved your video, you did such a fantastic job,” Mitte told Rossi, causing her eyes to well up with tears.

Rossi, ever the performer, managed to hold back the joyful tears long enough to address her crowd one last time.

“This is a really great honor to be chosen,” she said. “To be working with the top people that I always wanted to work with since I was 8 — I’ve been studying theater since I was 8 years old, and it apparently has paid off.”

About the OCT

The OCT is a state model transition program for young adults with intellectual disabilities that assist students in becoming independent, well-adjusted, and contributing members of society, while receiving the rare and unique opportunity of having an authentic college experience. The program started in 2007 through a joint partnership of the Arc Jacksonville and UNF and has grown significantly. The OCT opened with 16 young adults and has expanded to accommodate more than two dozen transition students.

OCT students are fully integrated and included within the campus by auditing UNF courses, participating in UNF student clubs and organizations, interning at various university departments, and participating in service learning opportunities around campus. The OCT is actively seeking opportunities for OCT students to be of service to the campus community.

The OCT offers matriculated university students experiential opportunities to utilize a science-practitioner perspective in working with this population through various means — social/academic mentoring, course projects, course field experiences, practicum, and internships. To date, UNF students from diverse majors have creatively found ways to apply their major to this underserved and growing population through volunteer and for-credit course projects. In addition, the OCT is an AmeriCorps site that enrolls UNF students to serve as members and modifies positions to enable students to utilize their major during their service.

The University of North Florida is a vital part of Jacksonville’s diverse military community.

You can see that in the scores of students, faculty and staff who now traverse UNF’s campus after devoting years of their lives to military service.

It’s reflected in the University’s third straight year of being named a “Military Friendly School” by G.I. Jobs, the premier magazine for military personnel transitioning into civilian life.

And it was particularly apparent during a Veterans Day tribute event sponsored by the on-campus Military and Veteran’s Resource Center. The patriotic ceremony featured dozens of community members who joined together with Mayor Alvin Brown to honor the selfless devotion of the campus’ diverse group of active military and veterans — a population that includes professors, administrators, students and staff.

“One of the best parts of my job is to express my gratitude to all those assembled who have served this great country,” Brown said to the assembled crowd on the Student Union Osprey Plaza. “You’re a part of the top level of public service in our great nation. And UNF has a proud part in that tradition of public service.”

UNF has about 700 student veterans, more than 100 active military students and around 100 faculty and staff veterans serving on campus.

“The Military and Veterans Resource Center is very excited to have had the opportunity to showcase the faculty, staff and student veterans who teach, administer and attend the University of North Florida,” said Ray Wikstrom, MVRC director.

The program’s theme was “We Remember, We Care and We Support,” and all veterans and active military honored received a commemorative pin thanking them for their service.

The UNF Brass Quintet presented a selection of military service songs, while the Naval Station Mayport and the UNF Army ROTC color guards presented the colors. Students milled about the plaza during the event, interacting with veterans wearing their uniforms.

A 22-foot exact replica of the USS Saratoga and various campaign uniforms were also on display in the plaza. The event was the first Veterans Day tribute hosted by the MVRC.

About the MVRC

The UNF Military and Veterans Resource Center provides military and veteran students with assistance in navigating admission, enrollment and financial aid processes. It serves as the primary campus advocate for military and veteran students and works with them to ensure their unique needs are met by coordinating with offices of various university services such as academic advising, tutoring, counseling, disability accommodations, veteran programming, benefits information and assistance (financial and medical), as well as facilitating referrals to state and federal resources and services.

The MVRC is committed to ensuring that military and veteran students successfully make the transition from the military environment to campus life and are assisted in sustaining their progress toward completion of their academic degree. The Center also provides opportunities for peer-to-peer support, mentoring and social networking.

The Center includes administrative offices, a student computer resource room, a work area for group study, tutoring, mentoring and a reception and lounge area for veteran students to meet and relax. Additionally a private counseling office for veteran students and their families to meet with counselors is available.

The University of North Florida campus will be mostly quiet this winter intersession.

The majority of the campus community will spend the break at home, enjoying a brief respite from work and study. But the Information Technology Services staff, along with employees from Physical Facilities, will be toiling away on campus, installing new electrical wiring, power supplies and generators to upgrade the campus infrastructure during the break. Most Information Technology services will not be available from Monday, Dec. 26, through Saturday, Dec. 31.

Kathy Hughes, director of network and user services for ITS, said the reason for the upgrade is simple. The existing main breaker for the John E. Mathews, Jr. Computer and Information Sciences Building is more than 20 years old and is no longer manufactured. All the work Hughes’ team will be doing with the assistance of Physical Facilities — installing the new wiring, power supply and generators — is to guarantee the University is stable in the event of an emergency. The upgrade also grants the University the ability to increase the generator capacity for Building 15 and provide emergency power to buildings 8 and 9 in the case of outages.

The power upgrade project, which officially started Oct. 1, will support future growth on campus, said Stephen Fagan, an assistant director with Physical Facilities. The additional power capacity offered by the boosted generators will also bolster the network so it’s technologically capable of handling any campus additions, he said.

The time of the outage was carefully selected to disrupt as few people as possible, Hughes said. Computers on campus won’t be operable, and only UNF Web pages in the Content Management System will be online. Only campus phones and the Code Blue emergency phones will work on campus.

However, some UNF resources will be available from off campus — the myWings portal, except for Blackboard, and all Banner systems. Faculty and staff e-mail can be accessed by using http://webaccess.unf.edu, myWings or smartphones.

While Fagan, Hughes and their teams will be on campus working at a time when most of their colleagues are enjoying some well-deserved time off, they both said they’re dedicated to making sure the project goes off without a hitch. They might not get as long of a break as some University employees, but they’re rewarded in the knowledge that their work will be integral in ensuring the campus network runs smoothly for years to come.

“The average person probably won’t even know about or encounter the work we’ll be doing,” Fagan said. “And we’re fine with that. We want to make things better for the campus. We don’t need acknowledgment for that.”

More information about the power upgrade is available online at www.unf.edu/its/. Questions can be sent to ITS-infomail@unf.edu.

She was in a high school music class when she first heard about the University of North Florida.

Her trumpet teacher, a UNF graduate, introduced her to the University after a conversation about her college options. She was a passionate musician with a burning desire to push her musical talent to the limit. Her teacher said UNF’s music program, which this year received the University’s heralded Flagship designation, was the finest in the country.

“When I was younger, I wanted to work and study with the masters,” said Cicily Janus, who attended UNF in the mid-‘90s. “And the lineup of professors at UNF is just ridiculous. It’s a whole bevy of musicians who are just amazing. That’s why, when I wanted to test myself, I went to UNF.”

Now, she’s using her UNF experience in a different field, writing about the music she so loves. But when she wanted to write about the jazz masters, she inevitably came back to UNF.

Janus last year published “The New Face of Jazz,” a non-fiction book that peers behind the curtain of the jazz music world and introduces readers to some of the most dynamic performers in the industry, including a number of UNF jazz faculty members.

She painstakingly pieced together interviews with hundreds of musicians, including famed performers such as Lee Ritenour, Arturo Sandoval and Wynton Marsalis, and packaged their stories to create a multifaceted view of the current state of jazz music. Other musicians profiled include J.B. Scott, the director of the UNF Jazz Ensemble 1, and Bunky Green, UNF’s director of jazz studies.

Writing a book was never something Janus saw herself doing when she was a UNF student repeatedly running scales on her trumpet in preparation for her next performance. But she said UNF was the driving force behind her having the confidence to break from performing and delve into book publishing.

“If it weren't for my education at UNF, I wouldn't have had the perspective to make this book a success,” Janus said. “I took a lot of English classes as a kind of release when I was at UNF. It was nice to have an excuse to read copious amounts of novels. And when I stopped playing professionally seven or eight years ago, had kids and settled down, I wanted to do something with the knowledge I had acquired. What better way than to combine my passions?”

That’s why, when she was looking for inspiration to jumpstart her literary career, Janus decided to follow a simple axiom — write about what you know.

“UNF showed me the full scope of the jazz world and got me thinking about other avenues than just performing,” she said. “The University prepared me for anything because of my experience. In the book, I include the big and the small names in the jazz world — anyone who’s made an impact on jazz. And out of the 225 interviews I did, there are more than a dozen people with UNF ties included in the book.”

One of those interviewees was J.B. Scott, UNF’s jazz ensemble director and Janus’ former professors. She said Scott, and his wife, Lisa Kelly-Scott, were integral contributors to her book when it came to suggesting other artists to profile and assisting her during the sometimes tedious process of editing.

“It was a great experience because of our shared passion for jazz,” Scott said. “Cicily played across the country for years, so she knows the players and can write about them with a real intimate knowledge of the art. That passion is obvious if you read it. It was an honor to be included.”

Now living in Colorado, Janus said her evolution into a published author has allowed her to fall in love yet again with jazz. “The New Face of Jazz” was published by Random House Inc. and she is actively working on her next title.

She said it focuses on a music industry luminary but declined to identify the subject. She did, however, offer one hint.

“I’m working with a king of R&B and Motown,” Janus said. “That’s all I can say. But when it comes to the writing, I know I’ll pull from my UNF experience to make it the best book I can hope to make it.”

If you are traveling through Jacksonville International Airport this holiday season, you could take a minute to look at the new UNF ads that are in place in the concourses and at baggage claim.

Because nearly 6 million people travel through the Jacksonville airport each year, it is a great venue for UNF to showcase its students, faculty and programs to a local, national and international audience.

“The advertising at the airport is really a great way for us to showcase UNF and its national reputation for excellence,” said Pierre Allaire, vice president for Institutional Advancement. “With millions of people traveling through the airport on a fairly regular basis, we want to make sure UNF is on their radar — and this year, we get to share the news that UNF ranked near the top of some impressive academic lists on a national level.”

This year’s campaign features some of the national rankings UNF has garnered in the past few months. Forbes Magazine ranked UNF as the No. 19 Best College Buy, a Best College in America and a Best College in the South. Princeton Review named UNF a Best College in the Southeast, a Best Value Public College, a Top Green College and Best 294 Business School. And for the third consecutive year, G.I. Jobs magazine named UNF a Military Friendly School.

Nine of our students grace the ads — three in the concourses just past security and six in the baggage claim area. You can’t go more than a few steps without seeing a bright, smiling UNF face or reading about all the national accolades that have come our way.

“I really like being a part of the campaign,” said Christine Kegel, a sophomore from Tampa, majoring in graphic design. “I am proud of UNF and all it has achieved. I hope everyone is as impressed as I am with the national recognition UNF has gotten this year. I am traveling through the airport this holiday season, and I can’t wait to see how they all look.”

Amanda Clark expected she would learn a great deal about France, its culture and its language when she participated in a summer transformational learning opportunity (TLO) made possible by the Harriet LeMaster French Scholarship. What she didn’t expect was the immersive experience would make her aware of how different American culture is from the rest of the world.

Clark was among a dozen students who took part in Dr. Shira Schwam-Baird’s study abroad program in Strasbourg, France in 2009. The program has been in operation since 1999, and the LeMaster scholarship has been providing assistance since 2006. As of 2011, the scholarship has allowed 18 UNF students to experience France and its culture. The summer class, which has been expanded to five weeks, receives a subsidy under the University’s Transformational Learning Opportunities program, and the LeMaster Scholarship helps individual students meet the $3,000 cost, which is in addition to tuition and air fare. It is a perfect example of the type of programs funded through The Power of Transformation campaign.

Clark admits she would never have been able to participate without the LeMaster Scholarship. A Jacksonville native, Clark studied French in high school and decided she wanted to pursue it in college.

“It (French) came pretty easily to me,” she said.

Taking part in the summer TLO seemed a natural fit for her continued studies.

Schwam-Baird said her program is not a French tour. It is a French language and culture immersion program. Students are in language classes three hours a day, Monday through Friday. The language school is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce of Strasbourg and the students are a mix of nationalities. All students speak French to some degree when they arrive.

To make the immersion complete, each student lives with a French family.

“I expected life in France would be different, but I didn’t realize how different,” Clark said. “For example, each evening we ate dinner at 7:30 p.m. sharp, and it lasted two hours. We sat and talked a great deal, so it helped to improve my listening and conversation skills.”

In contrast to the U.S where she drove everywhere, Clark never got behind the wheel in France.

“I took a tram wherever I needed to go,” she said. “They have a very good public transportation system. It made me aware not every culture is as dependent on the automobile as we are.”

That public transportation system also took the students on a weekend trip to Paris to visit museums and walk neighborhoods.

“We want our students to have a good idea of how the residents of Paris live on a daily basis,” Schwam-Baird said.

The UNF faculty member said the program would not have grown as quickly without the assistance of Harriet LeMaster. LeMaster, a senior citizen, started her affiliation with UNF when she took several French courses from Schwam-Baird. In those classes, she got to know the students and decided to help provide financial assistance to the study abroad program.

As the course became more popular, LeMaster’s financial support also grew. In 2006, she established an endowment specifically for students with a declared interest in French studies to study abroad. It was the first French language endowment at UNF.

Schwam-Baird has been a front-row witness to how much her students have grown as a result of the summer experience.

“They are much more confident in themselves and have gotten over their fear of opening their mouth to speak,” she said.

Schwam-Baird has witnessed the benefits of students living in the culture 24/7. By the time they arrive back in Jacksonville, she said, their cultural intelligence is more finely tuned, and they are much more aware of the world around them.

Clark plans to graduate in May and hopes to get an internship working with a foreign exchange program, possibly in France. “I’d like to be able to find host families for American students to live with so they too can experience what I’ve experienced.”

The annual University of North Florida’s Art and Design Faculty exhibition showcases new works of contemporary art from faculty while surveying the breadth of work currently produced by its art professors.

The exhibition is now open at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Jacksonville, a cultural resource of UNF. The show is an opportunity for students and community members to gain a sense of the professional work produced by the department.

“The UNF Gallery at MOCA has been privileged to host the faculty show since 2009, shortly after the museum became a cultural resource of the University,” said Dr. Marcelle Polednik, director of MOCA. “It is an outstanding venue to provide Jacksonville with the opportunity to see the tremendous artistic talents of our University colleagues.”

Many of the faculty artists who have participated in the exhibition have had their work shown locally, nationally and internationally, receiving top prizes for their art.

Dr. Jason John, assistant professor of painting and drawing and organizer of this year's exhibition, said it shows the diversity and expertise of UNF’s faculty.

“Several faculty members have traveled overseas for exhibitions and workshops,” John said. “Each faculty member specializes and works in a variety of mediums, styles and subject matter. Many have been working in their chosen mediums for more than 10 to 20 years.”

The faculty exhibition is on display at MOCA Jacksonville, located at 333 N. Laura St., through Jan. 22, 2012. For more information, visit www.mocajacksonville.unf.edu or call (904) 366-6911.

The University of North Florida men’s golf team is ranked No. 5 in the nation by Golfweek magazine.

This unprecedented honor came on the heels of the team’s dominating performance at the Amelia International Intercollegiate tournament in Fernandina Beach. The Ospreys, who carded a final round 286 (-2), captured the team championship by 10 shots and led the event wire-to-wire. Sean Dale, Kevin Phelan and Kevin Aylwin took the top three individual spots.

The Ospreys took to the links in four events this fall, winning twice and placing third in the other two. Victories at the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Championship and the Amelia Island Invitational, as well as the third-place finish at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational, one of the top events in golf, helped the team earn its highest-ever national ranking.

“This was a great way to finish the fall season,” said UNF head coach Scott Schroeder. “The guys played well and with confidence all fall and our goals our high for the remainder of the year. We learned that we can play alongside the best teams in the country and be competitive. I was proud of how well all the guys played this week. Definitely the first time I know of that we had the top three finishers at an event. The guys have earned some time off as we get rested and reloaded for the spring.”

Dale captured his second career collegiate medalist honor after shooting a nine-under-par 207, including a team-best 70 (-2) in the final round. The junior from Jacksonville has now carded under-par scores in eight of 12 competitive rounds this season.

Phelan, another junior for UNF, shot even-par 72 Tuesday to finish in second-place at 210 (-6). It marked the third runner-up finish of his career. Senior Kevin Aylwin was tied for third at 211 (-5) following a final round 72.

A pair of freshmen rounded out the Osprey lineup at the event with MJ Maguire finishing tied for 10th at 217 (+1) and Joey Petronio tied for 18th at 200 (+4). Additionally, Brant DeLongy (T-47th/230) and Joey Marino (T-65th/235) competed as individuals in the event for UNF.Going into the three-month winter break, the team has its highest ranking ever. North Florida returns to tournament action at the JU Invitational Jan. 30-31, 2012.

Guidelines for the awards are listed on the Faculty Association Website at http://www.unf.edu/groups/unffa under “Faculty Awards.” Nominations can be submitted one of the three ways: Filling out the online nominations via the online forms; e-mailing the nomination to facassn1@unf.edu; or delivering handwritten or typed nomination forms to the Faculty Association Office in the Honors Hall, Building 10, Room 1120.

The deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012.

For more information, contact either Cindy Chin at cchin@unf.edu or ext. 2872 or Dr. Patrick Plumlee at pplumlee@unf.edu.

‘Tis the season to be jolly — and there are plenty of festive events happening at UNF (or nearby) to remind us that the holiday season is in full swing. Here are a few you might want to consider as you plan your holiday schedule:6th Annual UNF Feast of Carols with Jacksonville SINGS! Mike Buresh from Action News and the Salvation Army will host the concert featuring the UNF Brass and Choral Ensembles. It will also include musicians from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, Fletcher High School, Bartram Trail High School and First Coast High School. Dr. Cara Tasher will direct choral activities. There will be free hot beverages and snacks, as well as pictures with SantaDate: Saturday, December 3Time: 2 p.m.Location: Lazzara Performance HallCost: Free

UNF Alumni Association 20th Annual Holiday Party This is the one holiday party this season you don’t want to miss! The UNF Alumni Association 20th Annual Holiday party will include great food, a silent auction, music, dancing, door prizes and more! Plan to get an early start on your holiday shopping with our exciting silent auction items, which include family portrait sessions, weekly grounds tickets to TPC, UNF basketball and baseball season tickets, tickets to the Gator Bowl, numerous gift baskets, gift certificates and wine. To RSVP, click here. For more information, please contact the Office of Alumni Services at (904) 620-4723 or unf-alum@unf.edu.

Women's Basketball Holiday TournamentThe North Florida women's basketball team will host their annual Osprey Holiday Tournament at UNF Arena. UNF will face Delaware State at 3:30 p.m., following a game between Jacksonville State and FIU at 1 p.m. Date: Saturday, Dec. 17Time: 1 p.m.Location: UNF ArenaCost: $6 for adults; $4 for youths 17 and younger and senior citizen 55 or older; free for children 2 and younger and current UNF students with valid Osprey1 Card

What is the best thing you ever won? I’ve been so blessed to win so many things it’s
rather difficult to choose the best. If I had to choose, I’d probably say my
first track and field race. It taught me that I have so much in me and
everything I need is inside to win.

If you won the lottery, what would do
with the money? Build a state-of-the art sport performance facility.

What person had the greatest impact
on your life? Willis C.
Gravely, my high school English teacher.

What are you most passionate about? Living
life on purpose and to the fullest!

Tell us about your family. I am the youngest of three daughters and of 43
grandchildren (paternal side). I am the mother of three children: Dana, 25;
Destiny, 19; and Patrick, 14. I’m also the proud grandmother of one grandson,
Britton, 16 months.

What is your favorite thing about
working at UNF? The weather and
proximity to the beaches!

If you could choose any other career,
what would it be and why? I’d be a
strength and conditioning coach emphasizing alternative medicine as treatment
modalities. My personality is that of a coach. As a professor, I don’t view
myself as an educator, per se, but as a coach. I coach students to see and
experience the business of sport before they actually become professionals in
the field.

If you were not working at UNF, what
would you be doing? Planning some
type of event.

What would you like to do when you
retire? Live in Latin America in
one of the emerging economies such as Brazil, Belize or Costa Rica.

What is your favorite way to blow an
hour? Exercising.

What was the best money you ever
spent? Traveling to Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil

What is the proudest/happiest moment of
your life? Watching the birth of my grandson, Britton.

Tell us something that would surprise
people to know about you: I have a pillow that travels with me everywhere!

What was the first concert you ever
attended, and what was the most recent concert you attended? The Jackson 5, 1972 in the Cincinnati Gardens.
Ledisi in October at the Florida Theatre.

Who is the most famous person you
ever met? This is another hard one,
but I’d have to say George “Sparky” Anderson, the former manager of the
Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine. He actually wanted to meet me!

What do you hope to accomplish that
you have not done yet? Coach and
train professional/elite athletes.

Kris Vandenberg presented at a number of national conferences. Some of those
presentation topics include “Identification and treatment of non-suicidal
self-injurious behaviors in transgender youth,” “Theoretical concepts to treat
individuals with eating disorders,” and “Moving past YouTube: Engaging and
educating the millennial generation.” She also presented a poster during the
American Psychiatric Nurses Association Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. “Recognizing and Treating Patients with
Non-Suicidal Self Injurious Behaviors (NSSI).”

Nutrition: Delores Truesdell made an oral
presentation and abstract during the 7th Asia Pacific Conference on
Clinical Nutrition in June. Her work was titled “Lower serum vitamin D levels are associated with higher adiposity
markers in overweight, postmenopausal women.” She was also published in
two peer-reviewed journals, “Topics in
Clinical Nutrition” and the Journal of Women’s Health, in the past few
months.

Public Health:Elissa Barr, Michele Moore, and Edessa Jobli published "Public Opinion toward Sexuality Education: Findings among One South Florida County" in the American Journal of Sexuality Education. Barr and Moore also published "Improving health through stress reduction: An experiential activity" in the Journal of Health Education Teaching with Erin Largo-Wight. Barr and Moore also had their research on "Addressing sexual health in Florida youth: Improving communication, collaboration and consensus-building among providers" in Health Promotion Practice.

Coggin College of Business

Management: Lakshmi Goel had her article “Predicting Users’ Return to Virtual
Worlds: A Social Perspective” published in Information Systems Journal.

College of Arts and Sciences

Art and Design: Dr. Alexander
Diaz had an exhibition called PHOTOcentric at the Garrison Art Center,
Garrison, N.Y. Diaz also won Best of Show at The Photo Review 2011
Competition at the the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pa.

Dr. Trevor Dunn was awarded a 2011-2012 University
of North Florida Dean’s Leadership Council Faculty Fellowship.

Dr. Jennifer Hager exhibited at the North
Florida Sculptors Exhibition at Florida State College and also had a Juried
Exhibition at Bank of America Art Center, both in Jacksonville.

Dr. Stephen Heywood presented a workshop
at Utah State University.

Dr. Paul Karabinis exhibited at Hand &
Eye: An International Competition of Hand Crafted Photography at Through the
Lens Gallery inDurham, N.C.

Dr. Maria Elena Versari presented a
paper, “Iconoclasm by (Legal) Proxy: Restoration, Legislation and the
Ideological Decay of Fascist Ruins,” on the panel Historical Perspectives on
Looting and Recovery at ARCA’s Third Annual Art Crime Conference in Amelia July
9. Her work is available online —
(http://art-crime.blogspot.com/2011/07/maria-elena-versari-annika-kuhn-elena.html)

Chemistry: Dr. Michael W. Lufaso, in
collaboration with several others, published the article “Ba4KFe3O9:
A Novel Ferrite Containing Discrete 6-Membered Rings of Corner-Sharing FeO4
Tetrahedra” in the journal, “Inorganic Chemistry.”

Communication: Dr. Christa L. Arnold published an article in the international
journal, “Listening Education.”

Languages, Literature and Cultures: Dr. Constanza López has received the 2011
Victoria Urbano Award for her manuscript titled
"Trauma, memoria y cuerpo: el testimonio femenino en Colombia.” The
award is granted by the International Hispanic Women's Association on
Literature and Culture.

Shira Schwam-Baird published “The Letters of Lucretia and Euryalus in
Text and Image: An Illuminated Manuscript of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini’s Story
of Two Lovers” in the journal, “Medieval
Perspectives 22.”

Dr. Mei-Qin Zhan presented a talk at the
International Conference on Applied Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Research
titled “Convergence of Dirichlet Quotients and Selective Decay of 2D” in
Tiajin, China.

Physics: Dr. Daniel Arenas
published "553-GHz Signal Generation in CMOS Using a Quadruple-Push
Oscillator,” a peer-reviewed conference article on the IEEE Symposium on VLSI
Circuits.

Sociology and Anthropology: Dr. Krista Paulsen gave an invited paper,
“Curious Continuities: Examining Whether, and How, Neighborhoods Stay the Same”
at the Great Cities, Ordinary Lives Conference at the University of Illinois at
Chicago in September.

Dr. Ronald Kephart’s essay “For Ebonics,
the New Millennium Is Pretty Much Like the Old One,” was published online on
the AAA’s Anthropology News website.

Dr. Jenny Stuber published an article,
with co-authors Joshua Klugman and Caitlin Daniel, “Gender, Social Class and
Exclusion: Collegiate Peer Cultures and Social Reproduction” in the journal, “Sociological
Perspectives.” In October, she delivered a talk at Boston University titled
“Inside the College Gates: Dynamics of Gender and Social Class Privilege.”

Dr. Jennifer Spaulding-Givens presented
“Florida Self-Directed Care: An Exploratory Study of Participants’ Goals,
Service Utilization, and Outcomes,” at the annual conference of the
International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry in Los Angeles,
Calif.

College of Computing, Construction
and Engineering

Dean’s Office: Terry
Smith,
an author of astronomy and physics textbooks, participated in the Astronomy Day
event, “Discover the Universe," at Florida State College, Kent Campus, in
October.

School of Computing: Dr. Ching-Hua Chuan served as the publicity chair for the 12th
International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (ISMIR 2011)
in October. Chuan also published her paper, “A Comparison of Statistical and
Rule-Based Models for Style-Specific Harmonization,” in the proceedings of the
12th International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference in
October.

Dr. F. Layne Wallace had a lead role in organizing the 2011 UNF Cybersecurity Awareness Showcase. Partners with UNF included the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Jacksonville Chapter, Infragard Jacksonville and the Northeast Florida Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA). The three-day event included topics on homeland security, health care cybersecurity, social engineering and cybersecurity compliance, among other topics.

Construction Management: John Gonzalez and Dr. Mag Malek published their paper, “Design of a Solar Power System,”
in the “Journal of the American Institute of Constructors.”

School of Engineering: Dr. Chris Brown helped facilitate the American Water Works Association
(AWWA) “Water Tower Competition” at UNF. Twelve middle school teams and five
high school teams competed on a water tower design and test. About 65 people
participated in the competition.

Dr. O. Patrick Kreidl gave an invited
presentation, “Dissecting a Worm,” at the Cybersecurity Awareness Symposium at
UNF in October.

College of Education and Human Service

Center for Studies in Education: Dr. Betty Bennett, director of the COEHS Educator
Preparation Institute, appeared on the show, “Legal Issues,” along with Ray Drive, the president-elect
of the Jacksonville Bar Association, and Special Agent David Maurer, head of
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Computer Crimes Division. The
30-minute show aired on Comcast channel 99 on Friday, October 21, at 9 p.m. The
topic of discussion was cyberbullying.

Childhood Education: Dr. Katie Monnin presented with children’s author Jane
Yolen and young adult graphic novelist Jeff Smith at New York City’s Comic Con in
October. Monnin also traveled to Boston, Mass. to talk about using graphic
novels in deaf education for the Framingham school district. Recently, she suggested
good reads for the Halloween books segment for Katie’s Korner on Fox News. To
watch, click on this link - http://www.fox30jax.com/s/Q-3B8FSnBEKs0aal4eJu8g.cspx#.Tqhfo0JNlBI.email.

Dr. Christine Weber has been
selected as a new member of the National Association for Gifted Children
(NAGC) Awards Committee. Christine also made three presentations at
the NAGC Conference in New Orleans, La.

Ms. Katherine Altom
presented a workshop on using data for instruction to Dr. Katrina Hall’s LAE4312 Literacy Assessment course.
Altom is a UNF alum who currently teaches fourth grade at Woodland Acres
Elementary. Additionally, Hall was invited to present information on current
research in early literacy to coaches at Episcopal Children’s Service in
October. The two-hour workshop covered new research on vocabulary and how early
language is linked to later reading success.

Exceptional Student and Deaf Education: Drs. Janice Seabrooks-Blackmore, Karen Patterson, Kristine
Webb,
along with Gwen Williams (West Texas A & M) and Jeanne Repetto (University
of Florida) were invited to present at the International Division on Career
Development and Transition conference, Kansas City, Mo. Their presentation was
titled “Gaps in Transition Education of Teacher Candidates: A Discussion among
Teacher Educators” and was presented in mid-October. Also in October, Webb conducted an invited
presentation, “Talking transition — Outlooks on best practices, current issues and
future for students with LD”with Drs. Christina Curran (University of
Northern Iowa), Cari Dunn (Auburn University), James Patton (University of
Texas) and Sarah Semon (University of Northern Iowa) at the International
Council for Learning Disabilities conference, Austin, Tex.

Leadership, School Counseling and
Sport Management: Dr. Terence Cavanaugh was an
invited presenter for the Touring the Water Facts Festival sponsored by the
Orange County Utilities Water Division and the Florida Water Management
districts. There, he worked with more than 200 middle school students from six
Orange County schools, doing labs from the lesson activities he created for the
U.S. Department of Energy titled “Soda Bottle Hydrology,” where students do
hands-on activities for a range of hydrologic
concepts such as the water cycle, porosity, permeability, pollution tracking
and more. In addition, Cavanaugh recently presented at two conferences,
first at the Annual Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy in
Savannah, Ga. where he presented a session on “Interactive mapping
technologies, information literacy, and the literature/composition course.”
Later in October, he presented at the national American Association of
School Librarians (AASL) conference in Minneapolis, Minn. where he presented
the session “Recommending Reading: Letting Technology Lend a Hand,” sharing
tools for librarians that help suggest similar readings for students based on
books that they have liked.

Information
Technology Services

Alison Cruess was
part of a panel that presented at the Educause Annual Conference in
Philadelphia in October. She spoke on the topic of “Creating and Sustaining an
Effective PMO: Challenges and Lessons Learned.

If you can’t breathe, you certainly can’t get the physical activity your body needs to be healthy. Building lung capacity is important to everyone. Healthy lungs work to bring in oxygen that the body needs to create energy.

Regular exercise requires the body to burn energy. Your lung tissue has to work harder to get more oxygen into the body and blood stream. When the lungs work harder, such as from exercise, the volume of air, or air capacity, that your lungs can hold grows stronger.

Many smokers are motivated to quit because they see the hypocrisy of having a cigarette when leaving the gym after a workout. It’s amazing how getting your heart pumping makes you feel so good. If a person is addicted to nicotine then there is an inner battle being waged between the addiction and the logical part of the brain that is enjoying the gratifying effects of exercise. It’s common that exercising can trigger the desire to quit smoking for good.

It’s rewarding to observe the body becoming more capable with each workout. Just as the muscles repair and become more powerful, the lungs begin to regenerate once cigarettes are gone.

Research has proven that within days of the last cigarette, the upper airways of the lungs begin to regrow. Within weeks, lungs begin to function noticeably better and help you to bring in more oxygen for greater stamina and strength. Within months, lung capacity rises by as much as 30 percent, and additional workouts will yield better results. Within six months, the tiny hairs in the upper airways have re-grown to the state of a non-smoker and bronchial tissue is beginning to heal. Lungs now have a defense against toxins. Within nine to 12 months, the American Lung Association has found that persistent coughing, sinus infections or other respiratory distresses associated with smoking decline. That helps you feel better and have more time to enjoy life!Healthy Osprey is designed to provide solid advice on how to become more healthy at work and at home. Shelly Purser, director of Health Promotions, and Mike Kennedy, assistant director of Health Promotions, write a different article each month that focuses on some aspect of health and wellness. Healthy Osprey is a collaboration of students, faculty and staff working together to foster a University community that embraces the development of a healthy body, mind and spirit. The purpose of the Healthy Osprey initiative is to assess and respond to the needs of the UNF community to create and maintain a healthy environment, which will enhance the holistic student experience. For more information, or for any questions you might have, contact Shelly Purser at spurser@unf.edu. To read the entire newsletter, click here.

Watercress can be a key part of a good
diet and used in a variety of dishes, including the ever famous watercress
sandwich. Dr. Judy Perkin, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and
Dietetics Flagship Program, discusses myths and facts about this often
overlooked green vegetable. To help you use it in your diet, a recipe is
provided.

Myth: Watercress is
mainly water with little nutritional value.

Fact: Published
nutritional analyses of watercress indicate that watercress does have a very
high water content, but it’s also a good source of beta-carotene, which becomes
Vitamin A in the body, Vitamin C and a type of omega-3-fatty acid called
alpha-linolenic acid. Furthermore, sources say that watercress is a good choice
for people watching their calories.

Myth: Watercress is
the only cress vegetable eaten by humans.

Fact: Food
encyclopedia information indicates that watercress is only one of several types
of cress, which grow in streams, with garden cress being another type. Published
reports and food advertisements also tell us that watercress is a very popular
food in many countries of the world, especially in the United Kingdom. According
to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, central
Florida is a major U.S. location for watercress production.

Myth: Watercress
hasn’t been studied as a possible aid for preventing disease.

Fact: Historical
literature reports that cress has been considered as a possible curative plant
since antiquity. History also tells us that a form of watercress was once used
to prevent scurvy, a Vitamin C-deficiency disease. Today, scientists are
studying watercress for its potential to prevent cancer and heart disease.

Myth: Watercress
shouldn’t be cooked.

Fact: Although
watercress is frequently used in the raw form, especially in salads, culinary
experts say it can also be cooked and eaten in the form of a vegetable or as a
soup ingredient. A wide variety of recipes using cooked watercress can be found
online.

Myth: Watercress can
be stored and kept for long periods of time.

Fact: The Produce for
A Better Health Foundation tells us that the watercress plant is best used when
fresh, green and not wilted. The Foundation also recommends that watercress be
used within a few days after purchase in order to properly experience its
unique spicy flavor.

Source: Original recipe courtesy of
the Watermelon Board andFruits and Veggies
— More Matters® (recipe adapted to be lower in fat content)

The Goods is a
monthly column about food myths and facts by faculty members in the Department
of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program and runs in The Florida
Times-Union’s Taste section. Have a question about watercress? Contact Dr. Perkin
at jperkin@unf.edu.